Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: Republic of China Taiwan

Typhoon Danas, the first typhoon to hit Taiwan directly in 2025, swept north along Taiwan’s western corridor, presenting a true test for offshore wind farms in the Taiwan Strait. Despite the severe conditions, all 421 offshore wind turbines in the strait continued generating electricity. Some wind farms exceeded 90% of their capacity, and as of July 7, the instantaneous peak in wind farm generation reached 2.29 GW, accounting for 9.2% of total electricity consumption.

According to the Energy Administration of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), data from the Central Weather Administration showed sustained wind speeds reached nearing 40 m/s, with even stronger gusts recorded that night. The weather tower at Waisanding Sandbar recorded gusts reaching Beaufort scale 17. Despite harsh conditions, offshore wind turbines in the Taiwan Strait continued to operate safely.

In 2017, the MOEA announced typhoon-resistance standards for Taiwan’s offshore wind turbines. All turbines in Taiwan comply with the Class T standard, capable of withstanding maximum wind speeds of 57 m/s (Beaufort scale 17). Currently, when wind speeds exceed 25 m/s (equivalent to Beaufort scale 10), offshore wind turbines in Taiwan automatically activate protective mechanisms, halt operations, and adjust blade pitch angles to reduce wind resistance and prevent damage.

During the typhoon, the Energy Administration of the MOEA activated its offshore wind typhoon preparedness and safety reporting mechanism to monitor operational conditions across all wind farms. Moreover, due to the strong peripheral winds of Typhoon Danas, some wind farms reached over 90% generation capacity, providing Taiwan abundant green electricity during the period.

The Energy Administration of the MOEA emphasized that, despite the severity of Typhoon Danas, Taiwan’s offshore wind turbines remained safe and successfully converted the strong winds into power. This demonstrated the impressive performance of Taiwan’s renewable energy even during extreme weather conditions. The Energy Administration will continue to ensure that offshore wind developers complete all wind farm construction and the grid connection on schedule. This not only helps reduce air pollution and eliminate carbon emissions, but also achieve Taiwan’s energy transition goals.

Spokesperson for Energy Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs:
Deputy Director General, Chih-Wei Wu
Phone: 02-2775-7750, 0922-339-410
Email: cwwu@moeaea.gov.tw

Business Contact: Director, Chung-Hsien Chen
Phone: 02-2775-7770, 0919-998-339
Email: ctchen2@moeaea.gov.tw

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

The three-day 15th National Games bowling mass participation event, held at the Kai Tak Sports Park Bowling Centre, concluded today.

The event comprised men’s singles, women’s singles, doubles, and team of five competitions. A total of 166 athletes, spanning 27 teams – from the Mainland, Hong Kong and Macau – took part. Hong Kong fielded 10 bowlers, five men and five women. Click here for the results.

Secretary for Culture, Sports & Tourism Rosanna Law expressed gratitude to the General Administration of Sport of China’s Multiball Games Administrative Center of China, as well as the Chinese Bowling Association, for providing valuable guidance for the event, and to the Hong Kong, China Tenpin Bowling Congress, which co-organised the event.

She also thanked staff from various government departments and other organisations, as well as event volunteers, for rendering assistance.

Separately, Hong Kong will host a para dance mass participation event, part of the 12th National Games for Persons with Disabilities and the 9th National Special Olympic Games, at Ma On Shan Sports centre from September 6 to 7. Free admission will be offered through real-name registration. Full details are yet to be announced.

Furthermore, the first batch of tickets for 15th National Games competition events will go on public sale from August 28. These will cover four events hosted by Hong Kong, namely beach volleyball, handball (men), basketball (men’s U22) and rugby sevens.

Citizens can log in to the official ticketing website or the official “mini programme” on WeChat and use real-name registration to be eligible to purchase tickets once they are released.

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

The Government announced today a new round of enhancements to the “M” Mark System.

The new measures will apply to all applications received from September 16 onwards. From that date, applications must be submitted at least six months prior to either the hosting or the announcement of an event.

Outlining that the enhancements refine the vetting criteria and the funding mechanism under the “M” Mark System, the Government said these changes will optimise resources, ensure the quality and attractiveness of “M” Mark events, strengthen events’ appeal to spectators, and proved greater economic benefits.

Adjusting vetting criteria

• The vetting criteria will be refined to better reflect the importance of “major sports events” in contributing to sports development, and the contribution of “exhibition matches/tournaments” to tourism and other aspects of the local economy.

• The total funding ceiling for each event will range from $6 million to $15 million, depending on the vetting outcome. In other words, not every approved application will receive the maximum funding of $15 million.

• To encourage organisers to gradually increase private sponsorship, and to promote the development of sports as an industry, direct grants for new “major sports events” will be provided on a sliding scale, from a maximum of $6 million in the first year, followed by $5 million in the second year, and $4 million in third year.

Adjusting selection criteria

• The “M” Mark System will focus on supporting world-class “major sports events”, in order make government funding more effective.

• For “exhibition matches/tournaments”, applications received within the same six-month application cycle will be processed and considered together based on their merits. Under normal circumstances, there will be a maximum of three “exhibition matches/tournaments” in the same cycle.

Strengthening monitoring and reporting mechanisms

• After the signing of terms and conditions for funding support and the presentation of proof demonstrating the amount of cash sponsorship secured, organisers may receive a maximum of 50% of the matching funds they are eligible for before an event is held.

• Should organisers fail to stage events as proposed – with regard to participating athletes, spectator numbers, sports development plans, and marketing and promotion activities – or fail to meet key performance indicators (including those relating to tourism promotion and economic impact), the Major Sports Events Committee may adjust the final amount of funding support.

• Organisers are required to appoint an independent professional agent to conduct an exit survey with participants and submit reports so as to evaluate events’ effectiveness.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

Following are the remarks made by the Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, at a media session after attending a radio programme this morning (August 23):
 
Reporter: Regarding the Consumer Council’s report on tele-health, is the current mechanism in regulating medical staff enough in terms of protecting patients seeking such services and what should patients also be aware of? Secondly, with the expansion of regulation towards more public areas on smoking that would start tomorrow, what does the government hope to achieve and what is expected in the next stage? 
 
Secretary for Health: Regarding the Consumer Council’s report on tele-medicine, tele-medicine involves not only patient consultation but also communication between professional bodies and also education training etc. Focusing on the issue of patients’ consultation via electronic media or even online, I would like to highlight the importance of the quality and safety in healthcare services. Tele-medicine is medicine, and a tele-consultation is a medical consultation. So, I would like to remind our citizens that when they have a health issue and want to seek healthcare advice, they should ensure that whether they see the doctor personally in person or via electronic media, they have to ensure that the person concerned is a qualified registered practitioner, whether is a Western medicine doctor or a Chinese medicine practitioner. In Hong Kong, we have measures and legislations that regulate the provision of healthcare services; and relevant professional bodies and councils have already issued guidelines to ensure that the practice of medicine via electronic means will follow the guidelines and ensure that patient safety and quality will be safeguarded.  
 
About tobacco control, we have put in the bill to Legislative Council for amending the tobacco control ordinance and we are going to have the second and third reading in September. We are confident that we will have the support from the Legislative Council. The whole exercise of the amendment actually started almost two years ago in 2023 when we started the public consultation and we had overwhelming support from the whole city. Over 90 per cent of the respondents supported more measures to control and reduce our smoking rate, so as to ensure the health of our citizens. Over the last two years, we have also heard the opinion from various stakeholders and made appropriate amendments, in order to ensure that all these measures will be safely and effectively implemented. The more important thing is about flavoured tobacco products — we will start with the non-mint flavoured tobacco, and we will put in all these measures in a timely manner. 
 
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)